Honors

A former director of the National Science Foundation who is known worldwide for her work in addressing water quality issues will visit The University of Toledo next week as part of the Jesup Scott Honors College Distinguished Lecture Series.

Dr. Rita Colwell was the first scientist to discover cholera can enter a dormant state and lurk in water until conditions are again favorable for it to grow. Her finding opened the door to new research about the link between the natural environment, climate, and the spread of infectious diseases.

Colwell

She is working with the British government on a project to track and better respond to likely cholera outbreaks.

“Dr. Colwell is one of the most influential and well-known life scientists in the world today,” said Dr. Heidi Appel, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College. “She is a leader not only in her academic discipline, but in pulling people together from many academic disciplines to focus on water quality and interdisciplinary approaches to solve major societal challenges.”

Colwell is scheduled to present a pair of lectures at the University:

• A public presentation of how connections between climate and oceans affect human health on Monday, March 25, at 6 p.m. in Doermann Theatre on Main Campus.

• A technical talk about how next-generation DNA sequencing has revolutionized the study of the relationship between microbial communities and how that new knowledge can be used in diagnostics, drug development, public health and water safety Tuesday, March 26, at noon in Radisson Hotel Suite C on Health Science Campus.

Much of Colwell’s six decades of research has been dedicated to understanding and preventing cholera outbreaks. Among her many discoveries, she demonstrated how algal blooms, spurred by high nutrient loads and warming ocean waters, increases the population of cholera-carrying zooplankton.

Though Lake Erie’s algal blooms raise concerns of microcystin — not cholera — Colwell’s innovative research methods and multidisciplinary way of developing solutions could prove a helpful roadmap to addressing the problem in northwest Ohio.

“We believe the kinds of tools she’s developed and the way of thinking about interdisciplinary research-based problem solving will be of interest and value to the people in our region who are dedicated to protecting water quality,” Appel said.

Colwell was the first woman to lead the National Science Foundation, serving as director from 1998 to 2004. She was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2006 and the Stockholm Water Prize in 2010.

She has a bachelor’s degree in bacteriology, master’s degree in genetics and doctorate in oceanography. She holds distinguished professorships at both the University of Maryland at College Park and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

A noted historian will visit The University of Toledo to give the keynote address for Women’s History Month.

Dr. Lorri Glover will give a talk titled “Why Not a Woman? The Improbable Life of Eliza Lucas Pinckney in Revolutionary America” Wednesday, March 13, at 6 p.m. in Thompson Student Union Room 2592.

The John Francis Bannon Endowed Chair and Professor of History at Saint Louis University is writing a biography on Pinckney, who, at age 17, took over running three plantations in South Carolina in the late 1730s. Pinckney experimented with indigo production, which, cultivated by slave labor and marketed globally, became a cornerstone of the state’s economy.

“Eliza Lucas Pinckney’s remarkable writings — the largest collection from any women in the colonial South — afford fascinating insight into agriculture and commerce in the Atlantic World, Southern plantations and racial slavery, 18th-century family values, and especially gender history,” Glover said.

In addition to Glover’s talk, the University has several other events slated to mark Women’s History Month.

“I am really excited for this year’s lineup of Women’s History Month events. We have tried to highlight some of the spaces where women have fought and are still fighting for justice,” said Danielle Stamper, interim program coordinator in the Office of Multicultural Student Success and interim program manager at the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women.

• Monday, March 11 — Women’s History Month Kickoff Exhibit, 9 to 11:30 a.m., Carlson Library Room 1005. Authors featured will be NK Jemisin, Octavia Butler, Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, rupi kaur, Alison Bechdel, Suheir Hammad, Monique Truong, Zadie Smith, Melody Moezzi and Audre Lorde. Attendees will be able to read about these authors and eat bagels. Everyone who attends will be entered into a drawing for some of the pieces by the authors. In addition, Carlson Library will have books by the authors on display.

— Stand Up to Stalking and Sexual Violence, 6 p.m., Health and Human Services Building Room 1711. Anna Nassett will share her personal account of being stalked by a stranger for more than seven years, and how advocacy for stalking victims is important for recovery. The event is sponsored by The University of Toledo Center for Student Advocacy and Wellness.

• Friday, March 15 — Film Screening, “#SayHerName: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland,” 6 p.m., Thompson Student Union Room 2592. The event is sponsored by the Eberly Center for Women, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Toledo alumnae chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.

• Monday, March 18 — Womxn of Color Symposium: Finding and Using Our Voice, 1 to 7 p.m., Thompson Student Union Ingman Room. Denice Frohman, poet, educator and performer, will lead the symposium. Her work focuses on identity, lineage, subverting traditional notions of power, and celebrating aspects women deem unworthy. The professional development event will feature dialogue and cultivating resilience and empowerment. Register by Thursday, March 14, to utoledo.edu/diversity. Limit 100 participants. Read the UT News story about this event.

• Monday, March 25 — Preparing for Success, 4 p.m., Collier Building Room 1035. Amy O’Donnell, Distinguished University Lecturer of Career Development, will lead a program on salary and contract negotiations.

• Tuesday, March 26 — Preparing for Success, 4 p.m., Carlson Library 1005. Amy O’Donnell, Distinguished University Lecturer of Career Development, will lead a program on salary and contract negotiations.

A team of scientists at The University of Toledo uncovered new, galling details in the intimate relationship between insects and plants, opening the door to new possibilities in protecting the source of wine and raisins worldwide from a major agricultural pest.

The biologists discovered grape phylloxera — the insect that nearly wiped out wine production at the end of the 19th century in France — hijacks a grape vine’s reproductive programs to create a leaf gall, which it uses as a pseudo apartment for the parasite to siphon off the plant’s nutrients. The research is published in the latest issue of Nature Scientific Reports.

The researchers studying how insects control grape vines are, from left, Dr. Melanie Body, postdoctoral associate in the Department of Environmental Sciences; Dr. Jack Schultz, senior executive director for research development; and Dr. Heidi Appel, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College and professor of environmental sciences.

A gall is an organ a little smaller than a marble on a plant that can look like a wart, flower or fruit and provides insects with a protected place to feed and reproduce.

“When galls form on a leaf, the flower genes are on. They shouldn’t be activated, but the insect is manipulatively inserting its own signals into the pathway to get a flower-like result,” said Dr. Heidi Appel, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College at The University of Toledo and professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences.

The insect lays an egg and starts the process to exploit the plant’s reproductive genetic machinery, directing the plant to create these structures.

Insects have set up house in phylloxera galls on this leaf. This cross-section of a gall taken with a stereosmicroscope shows an insect mom — the orange ball in the center — surrounded by eggs she laid — the yellow ovals.

Appel and Dr. Jack Schultz, senior executive director for research development at The University of Toledo, said Charles Darwin guessed at the idea in 1867 when he observed that the gall bears a certain degree of resemblance to the inside of a peach when cut open.

“We examined Darwin’s hypothesis and found the insect forces the plant to use the same genes to make a gall that the plant uses to make a flower or fruit,” Schultz said. “The plant produces the central part of a flower known as the carpel in a place the plant would never produce one on its own.”

“In each case as we genetically held up a mirror to see the differences in the plant at each stage of galling, an insect injected some kind of signal into the plant,” Appel said. “The signal took over the plant’s development and told the plant to make a gall on a leaf instead of normal plant tissue.”

Galls damage grape vines by draining resources and getting in the way of photosynthesis, resulting in lower yields.

By identifying the genes in grape vines that have to be activated for an insect to produce a gall, scientists can next find a way to block the insect from attacking the plant.

“While North American grape vines have developed the ability to resist phylloxera, one option is to crossbreed plants to be genetically resistant,” Schultz said. “Another option is to create a biologically based pesticide to spray on grape vines to manipulate the hormones in plants to be active at different times.”

Quinton Babcock, a UT student in the Jesup Scott Honor College, will graduate this weekend and become mayor of Oak Harbor, Ohio, in the new year.

On Saturday, Dec. 15, Babcock will receive two bachelor of arts degrees — one in economics and disability studies, and one in mathematics.

Babcock

And then the 22-year-old will become mayor of Oak Harbor in 2019.

How did it happen?

Babcock ran and was elected to the Oak Harbor Village Council in December 2016.

“I had always had an interest in public service, and I felt I had acquired some professional skills that I could put to good use in the community,” he said.

In August, the Oak Harbor mayor resigned. Protocol says the mayor is succeeded by the president pro tempore, who is the president of the Oak Harbor Village Council.

At the time, the president pro tempore, Don Douglas, was in the middle of a campaign for Ottawa County Commissioner. Due to the uncertainty if Douglas would be elected to this position, Oak Harbor had to elect another president to replace him.

“I was elected by the council to be the president pro tempore,” Babcock said. “Come November, Mr. Douglas won his election for county commissioner and … I will serve as mayor for the duration of 2019.”

As the new mayor, Babcock wants to create a trust with the government.

“I think people generally feel very disempowered when it comes to government; they feel the government is not responsive to their concerns,” Babcock said. “With that in my mind, I would like to use my change in position to increase transparency, accountability, accessibility and responsiveness of the village government.”

Babcock also wants to address the concern of the possible closure of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, a major employer of area residents. “I would like to play a more active role in advocating for state solutions to this potential problem,” he said.

The head of the nation’s oldest and one of its most prestigious laboratories will return home, as Toledo native Michael Witherell is set to deliver the address during The University of Toledo’s undergraduate commencement ceremony Saturday, Dec. 15.

Witherell, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in Berkeley, Calif., will address 1,474 candidates for degrees, including 1,437 bachelor’s and 37 associate’s candidates. The event will take place at 11:30 a.m. in Savage Arena on Main Campus.

Witherell

UT’s graduate commencement ceremony is scheduled at 8 a.m. in Savage Arena and will commemorate 641 candidates for doctoral, education specialist and master’s degrees, as well as graduate certificates. Md Kamal Hossain, emerging cancer researcher and candidate for a doctoral degree at the University, will be the speaker.

Both ceremonies are open to the public and can be viewed live on the UT Views website.

Witherell, a distinguished physicist, educator and science leader, developed the foundation for his future at Toledo’s St. Francis de Sales High School. Salutatorian at age 15, he earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate in experimental physics from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. After a distinguished career as a university professor performing research in particle physics, he devoted himself to leading large research institutions.

In 2016, Witherell was named director of Berkeley Lab, the oldest of the 17 labs in the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories systems. Berkeley Lab is a global leader in fundamental and applied scientific research in physical, biological, energy, computing and environmental sciences. The lab’s employees have earned 13 Nobel Prizes and played a role in the discovery of 16 elements on the periodic table, among its honors. The lab is managed for the DOE by the University of California.

“Our mission at Berkeley Lab is solving the nation’s most challenging problems through great scientific and technological discoveries. I believe that the national assets in addressing these problems include public universities and the students whom they are educating,” Witherell said.

Before joining Berkeley Lab, Witherell spent six years as director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. He was vice chancellor for research at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where he also held a presidential chair in the Physics Department.

His primary research interest is in studying the nature of dark matter. He was a contributor to the LUX experiment, which in 2016 published the most sensitive search for interactions of dark matter particles with normal matter. He is now part of an international research team that is building a successor to LUX, known as LZ, which will be three orders of magnitude more sensitive. Data collection is expected to start in 2020.

Witherell is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He chairs the Board of Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies and serves on the National Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy.

“As a nationally recognized, public research university, The University of Toledo is pleased to have Dr. Witherell as our fall commencement speaker. Research not only helps us to discover new knowledge that advances all areas of study, but also instills critical thinking skills that our students can use to approach problems systematically and come up with solutions that improve everyday life,” UT President Sharon L. Gaber said. “We look forward to Dr. Witherell sharing his insights with our graduates, especially since he grew up in Toledo and has since made tremendous contributions through research.”

Witherell’s personal success can be traced back to the Glass City, as well. He and his wife, Elizabeth Hall Witherell, head of the Princeton Edition of Henry Thoreau’s writings, grew up in the same west Toledo neighborhood and were high school sweethearts. They have a daughter, Lily.

“The foundation for my career and life was my extended family in Toledo,” Witherell said. “Their support and the value they put on education and public service were central to my personal and professional development.”

Hossain

Hossain, the graduate ceremony speaker, is a native of Dhaka, Bangladesh, who came to UT as an industrial pharmacist with a passion to develop innovative medicines.

“I’ve always been interested in studying health-related fields due to the suffering of people in my homeland from different types of disease,” Hossain said. “My focus is to develop a specific targeting approach for a more effective cancer vaccine. My research examined the utilization of a natural antibody already present in human serum that makes the vaccine more convenient to target tumor cells.”

He is a candidate for a doctor of philosophy degree in medicinal chemistry in UT’s College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

UT’s fall commencement ceremonies will recognize graduates from the colleges of Arts and Letters; Business and Innovation; Judith Herb College of Education; Engineering; Graduate Studies; Health and Human Services; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Nursing; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and University College.

The College of Law will host its commencement ceremony Sunday, May 5, at 1 p.m. in the Thompson Student Union Auditorium. Later that week — Friday, May 10, at
4 p.m. — the College of Medicine and Life Sciences will hold its commencement ceremony in Savage Arena.

Does the caffeine in eye cream affect skin’s appearance? Does boxing help with speech for those living with Parkinson’s disease? How are feminist theories explored in “The Handmaid’s Tale”? These are a few of the questions UT students are tackling for the annual Scholars Celebration.

The Scholars Celebration showcases the diverse and dynamic undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activities at The University of Toledo. Presented by the Office of Undergraduate Research and University Libraries, the event includes student presentations and displays from all disciplines.

A welcome ceremony will be held Monday, Dec. 3, at 3 p.m. in Carlson Library Room 1005 and offer an opportunity to engage with students about their academic accomplishments. Exhibits are on display from Thursday, Nov. 29, through Friday, Dec. 7, in the Carlson Library Concourse.

“This is the fourth year of this event, and each year it grows,” said Dr. Jon Bossenbroek, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and professor of environmental sciences. “This year, I’m most excited about the increased participation of students from the College of Arts and Letters, as we have students from art, anthropology and English presenting their work.”

The Scholars Celebration fosters engagement with the campus community, bringing together students, faculty and staff from across the University to talk, be proud and celebrate the accomplishments of its students. This year will feature art displays titled “The Trees Never Bend” and “Glitched Memory,” among others.

“The Scholars Celebration has been a rewarding experience that has allowed me to share my research and receive valuable feedback from both students and faculty members,” Nathan Szymanski, a senior majoring in physics, said. “It’s also been great to meet others and learn about the fascinating work being done throughout many diverse fields here at UT.”

Sixty-four University of Toledo faculty members were honored in a special 2018-19 tenure and promotion celebration Sept. 28 in Carlson Library. Last year, 53 faculty members earned tenure and promotion.

Each honoree was asked to select a book that was instrumental to his or her success, and these books — each containing a bookplate commemorating the honoree’s milestone — are now housed in the library.

“We began this tradition when I joined UT because we believe recognizing faculty helps to foster excellence in research and academics, and helps fuel innovation in all fields of study,” said President Sharon L. Gaber.

“Faculty success, together with student success, are two of the highest priorities of the University and of the Office of the Provost,” said Provost Andrew Hsu. “We have implemented a number of new programs to enhance faculty success since President Gaber joined The University of Toledo. And while the large number of faculty honorees this year demonstrates the progress that we have made in faculty success, the credit goes to the hard work and dedication of our faculty.”

UT faculty receiving tenure are Dr. Hossein Elgafy and Dr. Xin Wang, College of Medicine and Life Sciences.

Appointed as professor with tenure are Dr. Anne Balazs, College of Business and Innovation, and Dr. Raymond Witte, Judith Herb College of Education. And appointed as associate professor with tenure is Dr. Denise Bartell, Jesup Scott Honors College.

Promoted to professor with tenure are Dr. Guillermo Vazquez and Dr. Hongyan Li, College of Medicine and Life Sciences.

Faculty members who received tenure and promotion to associate professor include Dr. Wissam AbouAlaiwi, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; Dr. Halim Ayan and Dr. Eda Yildirim-Ayan, College of Engineering; Dr. Liat Ben-Moshe, Daniel Hernandez, Dr. Jason Levine, Dr. Thor Mednick and Dr. Daniel Thobias, College of Arts and Letters; Dr. Joseph Cooper and Dr. Kainan Wang, College of Business and Innovation; Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Dr. Mouhammad Jumaa, Dr. Krishna Reddy and Dr. Diana Shvydka, College of Medicine and Life Sciences; and Dr. Aravindhan Natarajan, College of Health and Human Services.

The University of Toledo and Toledo Museum of Art announced Friday a strengthened partnership that will advance visual literacy education.

The new initiative will provide opportunities for UT students across all majors to master the ability to “speak visual” through targeted curriculum modules incorporated into their existing course offerings.

The Association of College & Research Libraries defines visual literacy as a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use and create images and visual media. Visual literacy is a skill that is critical to effective communication, creativity and design thinking.

UT President Sharon L. Gaber and TMA Director Brian Kennedy signed a memorandum of understanding for the collaboration at a ceremony Oct. 12 in the Museum’s Great Gallery.

“This collaboration will provide our students engaging lessons within their disciplines that will give them a step up when it comes to better explaining their complex scientific data graphically or connecting in a new way with the community to solve important social issues,” Gaber said. “Visual literacy is an important skill for our students who are the future leaders of our community and our world. We are excited to strengthen our partnership with the museum to advance this discipline.”

“Learning to read, understand and write visual language is an ability that helps all aspects of life,” Kennedy said. “The visually literate person uses sensory skills for critical thinking, by better interpreting the world around us, thereby advancing opportunity for a more productive and engaged life.”

This collaboration leverages the strengths of TMA’s Center of Visual Expertise and the Museum’s experience teaching visual literacy to young K-12 students, as well as professionals in the industrial and manufacturing fields, in combination with the strengths of UT’s Center for the Visual Arts in art education, Jesup Scott Honors College in interdisciplinary learning, and UT Libraries in supporting information literacy.

The initiative began with a pilot honors seminar course co-taught by UT and museum educators and an elective for medical students called Art and Medicine: Using Visual Literacy to Improve Diagnostic Skills.

The curriculum module options will be expanded to be available to all courses on campus. The goal is to have the visual literacy modules adopted into at least 20 additional courses in spring semester.

The effort is led by Dr. Heidi Appel, dean of the UT Jesup Scott Honors College, and Mike Deetsch, director of education and engagement at TMA, and involves a team of approximately 20 faculty and staff from both institutions who are contributing their time to this partnership.

The visual literacy initiative was made possible, in part, with financial support from Judith Herb, a generous longtime supporter of both institutions.

Every day, approximately 130 people die from opioid overdose, and nationally 11.4 million misuse prescription opioids — nearly as large a population as the state of Ohio. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death for Americans younger than age 50.

Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon focused on this crisis gripping her home state of West Virginia, the broader Rust Belt, and much of the nation.

Sheldon

Sheldon, an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and director of the Netflix original documentary “Heroin(e),” will speak at the next Jesup Scott Honors College Distinguished Lecture Thursday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m. in Collier Building Room 1000 on Health Science Campus.

Attendees will see a screening of her debut feature documentary, “Recovery Boys,” which documents the lives of four men working to transform themselves after years of addiction. A Q&A session and dessert reception will follow.

“The number of people we lose to opioid overdoses daily tragically could not fit into most lecture halls on this campus,” said Dr. Heidi Appel, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College. “Sheldon’s powerful message in the film is that despite all of the suffering reflected in this statistic, we can find hope.”

Not succumbing to sobering statistics representing all too familiar stories of grief and loss, the film is optimistic. The documentary’s path for these men runs through shattered relationships and strained sobrieties, but also new communities and the promises of lives better led. Their rehabilitation is facilitated by Jacob’s Ladder, a rural West Virginia farmstead that promotes healing through mindful living and the natural rhythm of farm work.

“Whether you’re a fan of documentaries, in the health professions, have had your life touched by the opioid crisis, or just want to meet an amazing young filmmaker out to change the world, you’ll want to join us for this event,” Appel said.

While on campus, Sheldon also will screen portions of “Heroin(e)” Friday, Oct. 5, at 8 a.m. in Rocket Hall Room 1520.

At this second free, public event called “Coping With the Toll of Responding to Opioid Overdoses,” Sheldon will participate in a discussion led by Dr. John Lewton, trauma intervention counselor and owner of Workplace Resources, and Dr. Cheryl McCullumsmith, UT professor and chair of psychiatry. The trio will talk about strategies and resources to promote the well-being of front-line responders and clinicians.

For more information about the Oct. 5 event, contact Betsy Martin in the College of Nursing at betsy.martin@utoledo.edu or 419.530.5888.

The University of Toledo will hold its 21st annual Banned Books Vigil to celebrate the right to read, think, speak and create freely without censorship.

The free, public event will take place Thursday, Sept. 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Carlson Library Room 1005. Programs will start every 30 minutes during the event that coincides with the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, Sept. 23-29.

“We emphasize taking a moment to think about how fortunate we are to live in a country where we can express our views and read the views of controversial people because, in a lot of places, freedom of expression is not a right,” said Dr. Paulette D. Kilmer, UT professor of communication and coordinator of the UT Banned Books Coalition.

Classic books such as “The Catcher in the Rye,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Color Purple” are a few of the novels that have been challenged or banned from libraries and classrooms. And every year, new books are added to the banned list.

Banned Books Week strives to celebrate and make these books easily available to students and bring together the entire reading community.

“It’s very important for us to remind students that they need to enjoy this freedom to read, create, think and speak,” said Arjun Sabharwal, UT associate professor of library administration and digital initiative librarian.

Banned books and door prizes will be given away throughout the day at the event. In addition, light snacks and refreshments will be served along with 20-minute presentations by guest speakers throughout the day.

“My expectation is that people enjoy themselves and just take a few minutes to think about our wonderful First Amendment and the right to think and read freely because the battle for the First Amendment is never over,” Kilmer added.

Kilmer said the UT Banned Books Week Vigil would not be possible without help from numerous generous sponsors on campus and in the community. She gave a special thanks to the Office of the President; the Office of the Provost; University Libraries; Jesup Scott Honors College; the UT School of Visual and Performing Arts; and the UT Communication Department.